T7i vs SL3

[Courage]

Hello, needing some advice on which is better. My first (and only) camera is a Canon Rebel T3i. I've had it for the past 5 years. I have the 18-55 kit lense, 75-300 telephoto, and, gen 1(not sure if that's what it's technically called, but first iteration) 50mm 1.8. Since I got the nifty fifty, I really haven't used the other two lenses much. I was relatively content with my camera, until just recently. My dad recently picked up a 7D, and his auto focus is usable. Mine is so slow that it honestly is almost useless. We're planning some trips in the near future, and I'd like something that has a enough technology that I can put it on auto and just click away occasionally so I don't have to be MIA because I'm trying to take a picture... Maybe my auto focus settings are wrong, but I'm still kinda wondering about a new to me camera. I seem to end up taking pictures mainly in low light, so I'm wondering if either of those cameras would perform better than my T3i substantially? How much better would an 80D be if I could find one?

The SL3 I'm looking at just has the 18-55 kit lense and is $300 obo.

The T7i has the kit lense and the 55-250 which I've heard is a much better lense than my 75-300. That one is $400 obo.

Hopefully my rambling made sense. Looking forward to hearing any advice you guys have for a newbie!

Thanks in advance!

Courage

[Courage]

Glad to hear that!

Sometimes I'm amazed at what cameras were used to capture certain pictures. 

That T7i sees pretty appealing since it comes with that 55-250.

[stevet1]

Courage,

Where did you see a T7i coupled with a 55-250mm lens for $400?

The camera alone runs around $800 new.

A 55-250mm IS STM lens runs about $300 new.

A T7i is definitely an upgrade to your T3i.

I would echo what Trevor said. Put your camera in Av mode and auto ISO for a while.

Take note of what the camera set for your exposure in various lighting situations. I shot that way myself for a long time, and the 55-250 was the only lens I had.

Down the road, you'll have a better idea of what settings you want to select for yourself in Manual mode.

Steve Thomas

[Courage]

Definitely going to put it in Av mode and do some shooting. 

It's a used camera on Facebook Marketplace. 

[Tronhard]

Absolutely, as a single walk around lens the 18-135 is a brilliant optic, but the combination of 18-55 and 55-250 is still an excellent choice - it will give the OP more aperture range, and it's available with the T7i.   These were all taken with the 55-250, hand-held, available light.  The first two in brutal mid-summer, midday light of a Māori dance group - to cope with the light I dropped the ISO down and shot with a very high shutter speed that also froze the movement.  The bird was actually shot through a rather grubby double-glazed window!

60D, 55-250@105mm, f/7.1, 1/1000sec, ISO-200  EOS 60D, 55-250@155mm, f/7.1, 1/1000sec, ISO-200  EOS 90D, 55-250@250mm, f/8, 1/400sec, ISO1250

I still retain an 80D and the 18-135 USM version, the combination just has a great feel to it - even though I have much newer and more capable cameras it still takes great images - remembering it's very like the T7i.

[stevet1]

Trevor,

I was lucky enough to be gifted an 18-135, and it stays on my camera about 90% of the time.

Steve Thomas

[Tronhard]

Good fortune indeed!   I had 3 of them 2x STM and 1xUSM, I sold the STM versions but still have the other.

[Courage]

That's incredible that you took the bird picture through a window! Any tips on what you did make it look so clear? I've never had much success shooting through windows...

[Tronhard]

I use quite specific settings that you may, at some time consider:
I use a thing called Back Button Focus, which separates the focus from the shutter button.  This allows me to react very quickly to focusing situations and not re-focus as I am taking a photo.  For a reference video on this see this one from Canon Australia: note that this includes a feature called Servo Autofocus.

As well as that, I use single-point focus, set to be in the centre of the image area.
Then I use single point metering.  Evaluative metering, the default option, tries to average out the exposure for the whole image area, but that might not work in the event of a lot of contrast, or a very bright subject (like a polar bear) or a very dark subject (like a black bear).  In the former situation the image would tend to be under exposed, while the latter it would be over exposed.
By using single point exposure, I can select a point that is a mid-grey, which is what a sensor looks to emulate and lock that in.  I can assign this to the * button on the back of the camera - see custom controls in your manual.
So, when I take a photo, I do the following:
Point at a mid-grey point and tap the * button to lock the exposure.
Point at my subject (an eye for example) and tap to lock focus for a still object, but hold for a moving one.
Recompose and press the shutter button to shoot.

With practice this is a very fast method of shooting.

[Courage]

Wow thanks for explaining!

I have a ton to learn!

[Tronhard]

Definitely with Steve on this.  You might be able to get a lot more benefit from using your current camera, with upgraded lenses.  However, the first step is to get your shooting methodology sorted and then we can look at the gear. 
Yep, the 75-300 is pretty mediocre, at best.  The 55-250 would be a reasonable replacement, or if you can find one, the EF 70-300 has more reach, but all of the versions of it are great optics.  See my post on that range:
70-300 Canon Lenses In-Depth Analysis - Page 4 - Canon Community.
If you prefer shooting at the shorter range, the 50mm might work well as is, but if you don't need the reach of the 55-250 and want an excellent walk-around lens, the 18-135 STM or USM versions are excellent and you can get some great close-up shots with that lens.
Canon T3i, EF-S 198-135 USM@ 105mm, f/7.1, 1/250sec, ISO-800  Canon 80D, EF-S 18-135mm@135mm, f/8, 1/2000sec, ISO-200, hand-held